Watch Funny Lady For Free

Please don't spend money on this.

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Ray Stark as son-in-law of Fanny Brice continued his wife's mother's saga in Funny Lady. This film picks up where Funny Girl left off with Fanny Brice now split with Nicky Arnstein and trying to carve a career out again. Barbra Streisand as Fanny is now facing the Depression and possible ruin. Performers like Eddie Cantor and Groucho Marx were ruined by the stock market crash. When we first meet her she's in the office of Bernard Baruch who is played by Larry Gates and a good friend to have in those times, she also by chance meets his former office boy and stenographer Billy Rose who's carving quite a career of his own now.Rose possibly because of his working with Bernard Baruch may have learned to stay out of the stock market, but he was a gambler, a conman, a promoter, all these requirements to be a Broadway producer. Apparently Brice had a thing for these kind of people. But Rose as played by James Caan isn't quite as smooth an article as former husband Nicky Arnstein.In real life these two knew each other and worked together before the show Crazy Quilt which was a flop on Broadway only running for 79 performances. That actually because 1931 was mid-Depression wasn't bad for the time. Still the way it was a flop is as funny as either a Mack Sennett short or an extended I Love Lucy episode, you take your choice.Omar Sharif appears again as Nicky Arnstein who Rose no matter what he does can't seem to compete against. Brice has gone on to radio and film, but still can't find the elusive personal happiness in her relationships. Her closest friend is Roddy McDowall, a fictional gay character brought into the story and he functions the way Daniel Massey does as Noel Coward in the Julie Andrews biographical film about Gertrude Lawrence, Star. Ben Vereen's character Bert Robbins is a combination of Bert Williams and Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson. Bert Williams certainly did appear with Fanny Brice in the Ziegfeld Follies, but he died in 1922. Bill Robinson so far as I know never did work with Fanny Brice.One thing I do remember about Billy Rose, his name is on all kinds of song lyrics, a lot of which are incorporated here. Now his contributions to the writing of these songs is debatable, but he certainly could promote them, especially if they were part of a show he was doing. I do recall Vincent Youmans's family complaining bitterly about Funny Lady, saying he wrote the music for Great Day and More Than You Know and wasn't given a mention on screen.The original songs for Funny Lady were written by John Kander and Fred Ebb. One of the Oscar nominations that Funny Lady got was for Best Original Song, another Streisand classic How Lucky Can You Get. The song was done that year also in a duet album in a nice version by Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire. The enduring popularity of the decade's greatest star Barbra Streisand appearing once again in the role that made her career, pre-sold Funny Lady to a built in audience. It holds up very well and Barbra has made Fanny Brice come alive again for another generation, even if there's more Barbra than Fanny in this film as opposed to Funny Girl.

I am very disappointed with this film, perhaps it should have been left at Funny Girl. I echo the comments of another post, I too loved the emotion, the humour and the naive innocence of Fanny. It is inevitable that she grows and matures, but it simply does not cut it at all. I adore Barbara Streisand she manages to cross the divide as actress and singer perfectly and I cannot listen to People from Funny Girl shall we say needing a tissue. However, her character although still meant to be self effacing and endearing and humorous is certainly not the latter in Funny Lady. Also sorry any James Caan devotees, he is no where at all as near as sexy as Omar Sharif, I can see why Fanny did not want to divorce him, he has charm and class or rather Nick Arnstein does that is Omar Sharif gives Nick Arnstein those qualities.

I'ts just a shame that Barbra Striesand didn't wait a little bit longer to make her screen debut in Funny Girl because this sequel Funny Lady is an example of what she could have really done with Funny Girl if she had waited. Funny Girl is O.K. but it's not the film it could have been. In Funny Girl, she just didn't have the right director. Don't get me wrong; William Wyler, best known as Willie Wyler, is an excellent director, but Michael Curtiz would have been better for Striesands debut as Fanny Brice and if you question my judgment on this, remember that it was Michael Curtiz that directed Doris Day's first movie Romance On The High Sea which made her a star overnight and he directed James Cagney in his Oscar Winning Performance Yankee Doodle Dandy in which Cagney played song and dance man George M. Cohan! Now, the songs such as More Than You Know, Am I Blue, and Million Dollar Baby gives the film a feel for that period of time that the songs in Funny Girl didn't even though they incorporated Second Hand Rose and at the end of the film ending up with Fanny Brices signature song My Man which were not in the original stage production. So, what makes Funny Lady a much finer movie for Streisand, even though she dreaded making this sequel. Well, for one thing, the interweaving of new and old songs. Striesands over-all appearance and her singing is superb and the surprise of the show with James Cann and his handling of the singing since he's not a singer. There has only been one other dramatic actor who has been able to sing, as well as dance in a musical; that being Marlon Brando playing Sky Masterson in the film version of Guys and Dolls. Funny Lady is far superior to the film Funny Girl, and I guess the reason for this is that Striesand looks more comfortable as a film actress and doesn't look overwhelm as to what she should be doing in from of the camera! Great show Babs!

The 1968 film version of FUNNY GIRL was an absolute masterpiece, and as perfect as a musical-comedy film can be. A sequel to this classic was not something that was ever needed to be made, but since the original was so successful (FUNNY GIRL was the highest-grossing film of 1968) and well-loved, it was pretty obvious why producer Ray Stark wanted to make this follow-up so badly. It took awhile, but he eventually convinced Streisand to sign on and reprise her role as Fanny Brice, with Herbert Ross (who had staged the musical numbers in the original film and had directed Streisand in the box office hit THE OWL AND THE PUSSYCAT) set to direct. Although the film was generally well-received by most critics and proved to be another big box office hit, many fans of the sweet-natured original did not care for the slightly more harsh and cynical tone of this follow-up, and it has since fallen out of favor with many Streisand fans.While no film could ever recapture the easy charm and beautiful sentiment of FUNNY GIRL, FUNNY LADY is highly entertaining when viewed on it's own terms. Streisand plays the now-hard-bitten Fanny with a depth and maturity that is very different from her characterization in the first film, but almost equally as stunning. Many viewers often complain that James Caan was badly miscast as Billy Rose. While Caan is physically wrong for the role of the short, unattractive Rose, he still comes across as oddly likable, and he has a nice comic chemistry with Streisand. Roddy McDowell is fun as Fanny's assistant, and veteran hoofer Ben Vereen brings down the house with a incredible, almost gravity-defying dance routine. Omar Shariff also returns for two very effective scenes as Nick Arnstein, the man Fanny will always love, but can't seem to live with.Though Streisand is in terrific singing voice, the song score is a bit more hit-and-miss. The period standards that Streisand vividly performs (particularly the bittersweet "More Than You Know," the gospel-infused "Great Day," and the heart-wrenching "If I Love Again") are absolutely fantastic, however, the heavily-promoted original songs from Cabaret composers Kander and Ebb are a major disappointment. The intended show-stopper "How Lucky Can You Get" is fine number that is made memorable by Streisand's scorching performance, however, the remainder of the original songs ("Blind Date," "Let's Here It For Me") are pretty forgettable despite Streisand's impassioned vocals. Fortunately, these few mediocre numbers (and the rather predictable narrative) are flaws that are very easy to forgive. No, FUNNY LADY doesn't hold a candle to FUNNY GIRL, but the film remains a fun and enjoyable ride that should entertain those who loved the original.